I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

The Great Vanilla Extract Giveaway

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosureBy Mavis Butterfield on November 29, 2018 ·

*** The comments for this giveaway are now closed ***

Baking season is officially upon us and if you’ve stepped foot in the baking aisle lately than you knowthe price of vanilla has skyrocketed over the past year. Well, last month I found a sweet deal on vanilla extract online and thought I’d snatch up a couple of bottles while the price was good and GIVE THEM AWAY because you know, baking season is here and I don’t know about you, I am ready to bake some cookies! {Or is it, I’m ready to eat some cookies?}

Curious minds want to know…. If you win a bottle of vanilla extract, what will you do with it? Bake cookies, a cake, dab a little on your wrist instead of perfume, give it away to the baker on your list? We want to know.

Just answer that one question below in the comment section here on the blog and you’re entered to win. Life’s pretty complicated sometimes, so I like to keep things simple around here. And just so you know, this particular giveaway is open to residents anywhere on the planet earth.

Rules:

1 entry per person/ip address. If you cheat, you will totally be disqualified.

This giveaway ends Thursday, December 6th, 2018 @9 pm EST and the winner will be announced in the Friday, December 7th edition of Mornings with Mavis. You will be notified via email and have 24 hours to claim your prize. If you do not claim your prize within 24 hours, the prize will be forfeited!

I bought vanilla recently. I didn’t realize it was “baking vanilla” apparently bakers want artificial stuff along with their real vanilla. It is not the same at all and I hate using it. I need some good vanilla for our upcoming Christmas cookie baking party. Mexican wedding cakes are at the top of the list.

I put vanilla and almond is almost everything I bake! This would sure come in handy this time of year. It’s almost time for me and the kids to make cookie platters to hand out to friends and family for Christmas!

I would love to bake the cookies then eat them! lol Love to make a shortbread bar with a fruit topping from my stash of homemade jams with crumble on top. I’ve been known to put a dent in a 9×13 pan! I’ve been experimenting with other types of extracts since the vanilla is so expensive but it doesn’t taste the same. I would love to win this!

Holy moly – I didn’t even know vanilla bottles of that size existed! 🙂 If I won one, I’d give it to my sister-in-law; she and her two daughters do tons of holiday baking every year, providing all of us with an assortment of goodies that look and taste yummy.

I love your blog and follow your resolutions every week. It inspires me to do my own resolutions. One of mine for 2018 was to bake with my 8-year old daughter. We have chronicled our choices on Facebook, including a pear frangipane tart, a lemon raspberry layer cake, and macarons. We love watching the Great British Baking Show and the Kids Baking Championship. So we’d use it for some awesome treats before 2018 is over and we find a new resolution!

I use vanilla nearly every single day. Due to dietary restrictions I have to bake every bready kind of product known to man, including banana bread, waffles and cream cheese pancakes. But I am most looking forward to making hamantaschen for Purim, a feast out of the book of Esther. Hamantaschen, or Haman’s hats, are a triangular shaped cookie filled with Jam or cream cheese.

I use vanilla in sweet breads and lots of cookie recipes. Our seasonal favorites are snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, blonde brownies, and no bake cookies. My kids and I bake an assortment of goodies to give to our neighbors each year. Thank you for the great giveaway!

My current bottle is just about gone so this would be great to win!! I do a ton of baking for the holidays – cookies, coffee cakes, nreads and muffins! And, of course, the French toast casserole for Christmas morning!

I would definitely be using it in my holiday baking this year! I am planning to do more baking (cookies and sweet breads) this year than usual to give as gifts for neighbors and friends. Speaking of vanilla, do you have any suggestions for buying whole vanilla beans? I would like to try making my own for myself and for a unique culinary gift for a friend or two. Thanks Mavis!

Pure vanilla extract is the new “black gold”!! ‘Tis the season for platters of sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. My nieces and nephews call them magic cookies – not sure why, but they are tasty!

I can’t believe how much the price has skyrocketed it is insane. I would bake with it. Cookies, banana bread, muffins, etc. I thought about making my own vanilla again but the price of vanilla beans is really high too.

OH…what a great giveaway! I’m teaching my Granddaughter to bake since they don’t have Home Ec in school anymore! We plan take bake all kinds of Christmas goodies and we would use it in those! Have a fabulous day!

All my Christmas baking is ahead of me and most involves vanilla! I bake an “old family tradition” gumdrop bread to give as gifts to all my siblings. This year my niece want to learn to make spritz cookies. And the list goes on!

One thing we love to do in the winter months is heat apple cider and add cinnamon and vanilla, then top with fresh whipped cream to give a little sweet and creaminess! So much healthier and cheaper than Starbucks! Yummm….

Homemade marshmallows (pork allergy – commercial marshmallows are not an option and buying the kosher version is expensive and the texture is wrong!). Plus I make a room spray with vanilla that is incredible.

I haven’t purchased vanilla in years. My friends and family who visit Mexico would always bring a bottle back for me. I’m at the end of my supply and sadly only have less than 1/2 inch in my last bottle. I need to replenish my supply for lots and lots and lots of cinnamon rolls for the holidays. My grands help with the baking and love to deliver to our service providers, police, fire, garbage, mail, teachers, neighbors. It’s been a fun holiday tradition.

Well lots of holiday baking of course! I like to do most from scratch but even from boxes, a teaspoon of vanilla and an extra egg and using milk instead of the water called for, goes a long way in making it taste closer to homemade! 🙂

I just baked 4 dozen mini loaves of pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving baskets for our little food pantry. Today I am baking cookies for a cookie walk the money goes to the homeless veterans and next weekend I am baking cookies for a cookie walk for the food pantry. I need the vanilla so much this time of year.
Wonderful giveaway.

I will use to bake up a delicious pile of cookies for my annual cookie exchange with my favorite people. I love vanilla and typically use twice as much as the recipes call for. However, with the price if it I am finding myself with a more tempered hand.

A friend and I take a day off of work and bake the entire day together. It’s something I look forward to most about the holiday season. Then we give the majority away. That bottle of liquid, delicious gold would come in super handy! We also buy a case of butter and use most of the 18 lbs that day! It’s sounds insane but it really is the most fun,

I do a lot of baking but this time of year I turn into a candy maker! So I would be so excited to use that vanilla in all the fudge, caramel, divinity and all the other sweet treats, that go along with the Christmas season. Awesome giveaway!

I do actually have vanilla oil perfume, so no need to waste any on me! I cant do floral scents, so it is about the only think that diesnt give me headaches. One day years ago a kindergartener at work said “yum! You smell like cookies!”

Figured I would take out a loan to purchase vanilla this year. LOL Have my list of cookies and candies i will be making for goodie baskets. Neighbors already requesting gingerbread cookies and one actually wants one of my fruit cakes!!! Lot of baking going on in this grandmas kitchen.

I’ll make cookie, pies and cakes Oh my!! I can’t remember the last time I had real vanilla in my spice cabinet. The imitation stuff is what I’ve been using for so long I bet my family would love some real vanilla.

Every Friday we host a fellowship night at Freedom Worship Center Los Lunas, New Mexico, for men and women recovering from substance abuse. I bake a double batch of cookies for them. I go thru a lot of flour, sugar and vanilla. I will continue as long as I can. These young people are all like my kids now.

Good Morning! First, I would take a sharpie and put the date on it so I can see how long I can make it last! Bread pudding and hot chocolate with my mom would be the first two things on the list! Thanks!

Food for thought. McCormack doesn’t identify where they source their vanilla, so potentially multiple sources are used. In which case, there’s a good chance they are using vanilla grown and processed by child labor.

We would put that vanilla to good use here. My husband wants us to make holiday treats in the evenings – he is really into making cookies right now. We like to give them away by the plate full to local folks – like the hard working guys at our local Les Schwab that do our tire change outs during snow rush!

I have a special cookie recipe that I have modified to make it even better … My secret? More vanilla!!! My kids teachers at school always get extra love from me (teachers in parochial & charter schools are severely underpaid!!) because they always go above & beyond for their students! I “love” our teachers with treats & thank you notes all year round! They would benefit from me winning the vanilla.

I’m just starting a baking business and I would love to have some vanilla that didn’t negate what I just got paid for my last cake! 🙂 I remember the days when I could measure into the lid and throw in an extra teaspoon here and there with abandon! Now I treat it like the most precious thing in my kitchen.
Also, it’s a very foggy day here and I really want to make snickerdoodles.

Thanks for the great giveaway Mavis. Baking is my top choice. The American Diabetic Association has a low sugar sugar cookie recipe that is really good. I would give the second bottle to a deserving baking friend.

A couple days ago I went with my chef ( not professional) son to costco to stock up on a few things, talking on the way about what we wanted to make, bake for christmas gifts etc. Lots of those included vanilla, of course! When we went down the baking aisle and he saw the price of vanilla, he literally laid his head on his hands on the buggy handle. I told him I had a little of my homemade vanilla left that I could share…..So he would definitely get any vanilla I won!!! Thats really a sweet thing for you to do for your readers, Thanks Mavis

Thanks for the opportunity Mavis! There so many things that I would use the vanilla for: Butter Pecan Fudge, Sugar Cookies, we also like to add a little bit of vanilla and cinnamon to steamed milk for a nightime drink 🙂

Great give away! Thank you!
I would use it for baking.
You mentioned putting some on your wrist – My grandmother was born in 1899, was the eldest of eight, raised in the South, married her sweetheart upon his return from WWII. She often told me she knew girls who used vanilla behind their ears AND pinched their cheeks; SHE didn’t but knew girls who did! 🙂 I only ever saw her use face powder, occasionally a lipstick, no other makeup. She was a beautiful woman inside and out!

Thanks for this giveaway if I won I’d use it for vanilla lattes, christmas cookies, and morning oatmeal. Oh who am I kidding I use vanilla all the time for cakes, muffins, pastries of all kinds, you name it.

Baking all those Christmas cookies that I only make this time of year! We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel and the kitchen only has newly plaster walls and a rough floor. My husband said he would hook up the stove so I could do some baking. I won’t have counters or sink but I would have a stove!

I’d use it to bake hundreds of sugar cookies. I have an annual cookie party. I bake all the roll out cookies and 10 friends and I get together every December and decorate. Everyone takes home what ever they decorate. Of course each year we have a ‘signature beverage’ too. So much laughter! We are in year 12. The best sugar cookies have REAL butter and REAL vanilla.

Help!! I am baking for gifts out of state and as I pulled out 10 pounds of flour and 7 pounds of sugar, I realized I have 2 drops of vanilla left in my huge old bottle. Holy cow is the timing on your giveaway perfect.

Definitely bake! It’s just me and my husband but that hasn’t stopped me from backing a TON of cookies for the holidays and I always like to try 2-3 new recipes too. This would probably last me a couple of Christmases – lol!

So I have about three recipes using vanilla that I make about once a week….all the time basically. Almond flour pancakes, almond flour shortbread cookies & grain-free pumpkin muffins. Needless to say I go through the vanilla!

To me, vanilla is like butter, I can.not. bake without it and I am willing to scrimp somewhere else in order to have LOTS of vanilla and butter!! Everything’s better with vanilla! 🙂 Thank you for the giveaway!

I would use the extract in my Christmas baking! Every year I take several days off of work and bake fudge, cookies, cakes, breads, candy… the list goes on. And you can’t use imitation vanilla it just doesn’t taste the same.

I’m currently baking lots of cookies, bars, breads, and cakes, for friends and various fundraisers. Many of these goodies are also enjoyed by a local shelter.
Trying out some new seasonal cookie recipe next week.
Thanks for this give away.

Every year my grandson& I make my mother’s amazing chocolate fudge. He’s 12 now. It’s something he’ll have to remember always. As for the vanilla….well, you can’t make fudge without vanilla. Or at least you shouldn’t. I use vanilla in everything I bake. A big bottle ($30 @ Stater Bros.) is most definitely not in my budget. So, I hope I win.
Merry Christmas to All & may all your cookies be perfect.

I would use it in all my Christmas baking/cooking….cakes, cookies, pies, candies, bread pudding, cinnamon rolls. I almost always add an extra “splash” to whatever my recipe calls for! Thanks so much for thinking of us!

I’ve got lots of pumpkin, so probably some pumpkin muffins and bread. We also like baking your poppyseed muffin recipe. I tried a giant chocolate chip cookie recipe and it’s so good and so easy to make. My 10 year old can make it with very little help from me. We’ve probably made at least a dozen 12 inch cookies over the past few months.

Oh, Mavis, I would use vanilla in making cut-out cookies with my Grandkiddos! It is so much fun baking with children. Their imagination is boundless and really is a bonus when decorating the cookies! Keep Smiling…and bake onward!! 🙂

First I would use it to make delectables for friends and family. Then I would share it with said friends and family so they could make their own delectables! (Yes, spell check has informed me that delectable cannot be pluralized. It’s the holiday season spell check, let’s just be merry and eat some delectable cookies.)

I do a lot of canning…so quite a few teaspoons will be going in the recipes.

I lucked out a couple years ago and bought a huge batch of vanilla beans and then made enough vanilla for 3 peeps to get it for Xmas, do you think I kept any for myself? Nooooooo and of course, that is when the prices went through the roof.

This is easy — GIVE IT AWAY. A couple years back, I saw that same 16 oz bottle of McCormick’s pure vanilla extract at Walmart, and the shelf price was **$8.00**. I bought 3, kept 2, and mailed one to my daughter who loves to cook & bake for her family. About a year ago, she said to me, “Mom, if you ever want to get me another present, I’d love another bottle of that vanilla!” So I went shopping and about fainted at the increase in prices! She would be thrilled to get this, as buying it herself is definitely not in the budget. (What a terrific give-away for you to do, Mavis!)

First I would do a happy dance if I received a free 16oz bottle of vanilla. Then I would bake your one-bowl chocolate chip cookies (the recipe with baking soda in water), sub out toasted pecans for the walnuts, then eat the cookies warm out of the oven.

My daughters and I would use the vanilla in that wonderfully large size bottle of vanilla to make Christmas cookies, apple pie, banana bread, cake in a mug, and so many other recipes it would take more space than I have here to list them all.

What a thoughtful idea Mavis! I’d enjoy this yummy vanilla to make boat-loads of my Moms delicious recipe of English Toffee for Christmas giveaways. I enjoy giving a little something homemade to those that provide services all year (the post-ladies, paper carrier, nail tech, UPS guy etc). Merry Christmas to you and the Puggle Princess!

I use vanilla in a lot of things, but I would start using this for a treat platter to share with my family during our annual Christmas get together. Thanks for your generosity and for making two people very happy!

Oh my goodness, what a great giveaway! 🙂
I’m a vanilla purist; I use it in all of my baking (quick breads, cookies, cakes, etc) & frosting recipes. In fact, I’m whipping up a batch of cookies when I get home from work this afternoon. Woo-hoo!
I’ll also (sometimes) add a dash into my coffee. Supper yummo and decadent.

Other than cakes, smoothies, etc., I found a new use for vanilla that I really love. Put several dollops of reduced fat sour cream in a bowl and mix in a bit of vanilla extract (to taste), then I add stevia to sweeten (again to taste). It is such a treat on fresh fruit. If you try it, hope you and readers enjoy it as much as I do.

I just purchased that very same bottle of vanilla for my 94 year old mother who lives in a retirement home and bakes cookies for all of her neighbors. Sadly I have about 2 teaspoons left of my own vanilla stash so a new supply would come in handy when my scone cravings overtake me.

At the ripe old age of… well, let’s just say, at my ripe old age – I have just gotten into baking. The kids have been grown and gone for quite a few years and I don’t know what took me so darn long! It is wonderful and fun and oh so exciting to see what I can make. Most of the time, it is pretty darn delicious as well. I would love to win the vanilla and find a great new recipe to try out.

I would share with my 2 sisters because we 3 gather at 1 house and bake all weekend. Cookies, pies, cakes, breads, you name it we probably bake it! Especially orange cookies, molasses cookies and the required ton of chocolate chip, oatmeal amd peanut butter cookies.

I bake between 5-9 kinds of cookies every year for our annual New Year’s Day Open House (it’ll be the 39th year this coming January, in 4 different cities/homes): Cranberry Ecstasy Bars; the VERY best chocolate chip cookies in the universe; Bourbon Balls for my friend Ros, who would kill me if I didn’t make them; Cornmeal Chocolate-Dipped Sandy Cutouts; Chocolate Mint Thumbprints; Lemon Snowballs. Sometimes, if time and energy allows, I bake a Pumpkin or Triple Chocolate Cheesecake. Just about every one of those recipes requires vanilla, so I sure could use a new bottle. I would thank you kindly, and so would my guests. Happy holidays!

Wonderful giveaway! I would split the bottle with my daughter who is also a baker! I use vanilla all the time! I would use it in my molasses crinkles, my Christmas morning coffee cake and pumpkin muffins!

Vanilla, Vanilla, Vanilla – ah yes, that wonderful Vanilla!! I would love to use lots of vanilla in all my baking for those special loved one and all others this time of year. — One question for you: This contest is open to all residents on the planet…what about non-residents!! I’m sure you’d include them, too! 🙂 Cheers!

I would bake Christmas cookies such as fig cookies, pizzelles, etc and stash some away for later baking and fever blisters. A dab on a fever blister when you feel it starting stops it right in its tracks!! If I have to use the artificial this year than I’m thinking about not baking this year!!

I would bake all kinds of things! My mom gave me a stand up mixer for Christmas and I can’t wait to use it!! She gave it to me at Thanksgiving so I could do my holiday baking with it. Sadly my oven is broken so I have to wait to bake.

Oooh – vanilla goes in so many things. I already promised my husband I’ll make your EggNog Pound Cake, which sounds amazing, but we also usually get together with friends and have a cookie decorating party – which means we crank out a lot of cookies. And of course you can’t make French Toast without vanilla.

What a fun giveaway! Even if I don’t win I’m already pondering all my favorite vanilla-involved recipes!

I would use it to bake shortbread cookies, chocolate chip cookies, vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing. Then I would take a swig, dab a little behind my ears, then turn on some music and dance around the kitchen in vanilla scented heaven.

I make my own vanilla and did up a huge batch in 2014 which I am still using up. I just leave the beans in and it gets better and better. Like the previous poster, I add it to pumpkin pie filling-I think it gives another dimension to the flavor. My mother buys a small bottle of McCormick vanilla extract about once a month and I cannot talk her into the big bottle (something about being 89 and not changing things up..) so, I would give her the vanilla an keep using my own. Thanks for your great blog, Mavis. It is the only one I look at on a daily basis.

I love vanilla! I would put it in my coffee, my cheesecake I plan to make for Christmas, my potpourri I steep on the stove with cinnamon, Clove, orange and lemon, and make some low carb treats as well. I’m not above wearing some too!

Hard to be original at this point! I have a cookie exchange, so would use it right off to bake a lot of exchange cookies. Last year we sent the cookies to Oregon, where my Mom is in a memory care home. The residents and staff really enjoyed them. The year before we donated them to a local Ohio nursing home. Funny- everyone always loves cookies. I think we ought to be donating all year round though! Cookies are as good in April and October as they are in December.

PS I’ll have the exchange even if I don’t win the vanilla, so it’s okay

Christmas cookies & candies with my sister and nieces. Our mom (the girl’s Nana) past away in 2010 and our annual get together on my mom’s birthday in December to make holiday treats is a very special time for us. Old fashion cut out cookies (with lard), nut brittle, fudge, spritz cookie and more. I have a huge tote of mom’s/grandma’s cookie cutters packed and ready to go.

Funny, I like it in baked goods, but don’t care for the smell in candles, lotion or any of the umpty-zillion products out there. It’s probably due to my mom loving it and having it all over… the overload just killed it for me.

I think vanilla is in all of my Holiday baking recipes. Soon, it will be time to ramp up baking for the Christmas cookie plates that we give away. Neighbors, family friends, the Pastor, teachers, the local Police and Fire department, the Holiday meal the local community puts on for those who find themselves in hard times…and on it goes.

My Mom started this and the recipe collection spans three generations.

It’s fun to do (as long as you like baking), and great fun to see the smiles on delivery.
Happy Kitchen time one and all!

Gosh where would I start! I bake a lot in the winter but especially around the holidays. I like to make cookies, cakes and different breads like banana, zucchini and apple. I would also make a baked french toast for Christmas morning! I’m getting low on vanilla and have been dreading the day I will have to buy more so winning a bottle would be awesome!

Happy Holidays Mavis!
Greetings from Anacortes!
I would give it to my 93 year old momma who had an absolute COW when I told her vanilla was $34 at Costco!!! She has one joy left in life (she says) and that is baking for her grandchildren!

Since I’m taking over the baking of my Mom’s famous Banana, Apricot, Cranberry Bread I could use that big bottle of vanilla. Her recipe makes six medium size loaves at a time. She would always have several in the freezer. When she was ready to gift a loaf she would wrap them in a homemade washcloth and tie the four corners on the top of the loaf with a festive ribbon and a sprig of holly. Everybody loved it! Miss you, Mom. Happy to share recipe if anyone is interested.

My mind is reeling with all the wonderful puns I could use … I do a lot of gluten-free, vegan baking and often use twice the vanilla of standard recipes to help mask some of the alternative flour flavors. I also love a small bit in my overnight oats! Amps up the flavor.

I would get more serious about experimenting with SOS-free baking. If you don’t know what that means, here’s the translation: Sugar, oil, salt free baking. I know what you’re thinking: “How could anything be at all satisfying without sugar, oil or salt?” Well, I’m trying to have an open mind about that, because I too am asking that question, but I’m willing to give it a try.

I’d use it for baking holiday treats, and New Years’, and Valentine’s and as long as it lasts.
Then I’d start a new batch of homemade vanilla extract.
Really Mavis, I can’t believe you don’t make your own instead of paying those prices!
And it’s so easy.

I would use the vanilla for lots of Christmas goodie baking, for my homemade granola sauce, and I’d save some back for summer…just a dab on my chickens’ heads and it helps keep the Buffalo gnats away from them! Gotta keep the chickens happy!

I would use it to bake all my pumpkin breads that I give away to the gals & guys at my hair salon, the food bank, my mom’s Hospice Team, etc. I bake anywhere from 50 to a hundred loaves…not the big ones! haha!

I prepare and serve dinner at a homeless shelter every Tuesday. I always make fresh homemade desserts for them to enjoy with dinner. They are always a hit and very much appreciated. Of course, real vanilla makes all desserts taste better!

Wow! A lot of people are great bakers and really want to win that vanilla. Well, I used to always make my own vanilla but the beans are way too expensive right now, so will also try to win a bottle of vanilla as I am getting low on my homemade. I will be making chocolate covered cherries, banana bread and pizzelles. I’ve been craving good homemade chocolate chip cookies, so may have to add that to my list. Thank you for the opportunity to enter and just want you to know that I have really been enjoying your blog, especially after your big move. You’re very talented and your blog is always interesting and fun to read.

I bake year round for my husband and I plus sending baked goods home with my kids when they come to visit. I’d use it in cookies, cakes, homemade granola bars, frosting,etc. I’ve only ever used imitation vanilla so it would be neat to see the difference real vanilla makes.

The price of vanilla extract has gone nuts for sure! I love to bake and go through it pretty quick. This time of year I use it in Orange Cranberry Bread and Egg Nog Cheesecake. Plus my kids and I each select a new cookie recipe to test each year so we can take our neighbors a nice variety of cookies. A little bit of vanilla makes baked goods better.

During the holidays are do all kinds of baking. I make pound cake, 7 to 8 kinds of cookies and chocolate cream pie. All of which require vanilla. My favorite flavoring. I give most of the cookies away to family and friends.

I would make cookies to send to my son and my daughter who live very far from me. They like to get cookies in the mail especially my son who lives in Alaska. I’ve followed you (lurked) for several years and now I also follow you in Instagram. I love your blog! This is the first time I’ve ever entered one of your giveaways.

I will be making pecan tarts for my husband who is in the hospital recovering from a traumatic brain injury. It is my grandmother’s recipe and he loves them. Happiest of holidays, Mavis! I love your blog.

Wow! What an impressive response to the Vanilla Give Away! Everyone must feel the same way, like you’re giving away Gold Coins! Like so many have said, I will be baking cookies. I’ll be baking the handed down favorites recipes and new recipes that I’ve clipped and saved. Many to keep, many to give away and many, many to sample as they come out of the oven!

I use it in my cheesecake, cookies, whipped cream, pancakes and waffles. Thanks for doing this giveaway. Vanilla prices are crazy right now and I am almost out. That looks like a huge bottle so it would last a long time.

Vanilla, what would we do without vanilla? I will be making so many things. Do you know that Julia Child even puts some vanilla in her applesauce recipe? I will be making many things for the holidays with vanilla – Bread Pudding Muffins, Pumpkin Whoopie pies, Fruitcake bars with dried cherries and brandy (and vanilla of course).

I have been wanting to take food to the homeless in my area for some time.
with it being the Christmas season and your give away, together that would
be my inspiration to bake some goodies to take on my first trip (I hope of
many) to the homeless. Thank you Mavis for all your inspiration. This
giveaway will put us all in good spirits for this beautiful time of year.
hugs to you and the Puggles

So many comments-hope that is encouraging to you! My hubby can’t have gluten or dairy, but we’ve made, get ready for it, CAULIFLOWER frosting for a chickpea cake! It’s yummy and real vanilla would make it even better! We also use it in coffe (coffee is life!)

I’d add it to my baking cupboard, although I do make my own vanilla extract. 750 ml of vodka + 3 vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped into the bottle. I go through approximately 2 bottles of homemade vanilla each year, so more vanilla would be used.

Snow ice cream would be good! Supposed to get some snow early next week! Huge bottles would also be terrific for key lime cheesecake bars with a buttery shortbread crust. Just in time for my husband’s 45th birthday “cake” of choice. Thanks!

Snow ice cream, supposed to snow early next week – eek! Also key lime cheesecake bars with a buttery shortbread crust. This is my husband’s “cake” of choice for his upcoming 45th birthday in less than two weeks. Super big bottles.

I would give the vanilla to my college age son who has discovered baking is a great stress reliever. He lives with three roommates and they cook in the “kitchen that never sleeps”. So named, because there is always someone cooking something there. My son loves to bake his grandma’s pound cake recipe.

I live in a “colony” of Veterans, many of whom are widowed and live alone. I enjoy baking cookies, muffins, etc. and also making home made soups for them. So many baked goods, so much vanilla. I could sure put it to good use. Thanks for the contest Mavis.

Hi Mavis, I’ll tell you what I would make and I bet you haven’t heard of this recipe. I placed my order today for beef fat, which I will render down to make Lardy Cake. It is actually a sweet bread with dried fruit & peel of British origin that I make only once a year. Happy Holidays 🙂

I have an old apple tree in my front yard. I can make the best applesauce ever by just throwing them in a crock with VANILLA & cinnamon! I thought COSTCO had reduced the price on their vanilla the last time I was there, so I grabbed a bottle. But when I got to the checkout, the cashier said “just want to make sure you know the price of the vanilla, because some people are confused” (fix your sign!). When he said it was over $34 I told him to take it off. So, if I win, I can get that vanilla back in to more batches of applesauce! thanks!

We are having a big holiday dinner. It’s something we haven’t had in quite a while . Oh my, where to start ! French toast casserole. Cookies, pies and cakes . Banana nut bread made with cream cheese . So many treats and so many loved ones to share with.

OMG, Mavis, there must be hundreds of comments for this wonderful giveaway. I know it will be really hard to choose.

I’ve got my mom’s original 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book (I won the toss with my sisters after mom and then dad passed away and we were dividing up the family treasures we wanted to keep.). It has been well used and well loved, and it shows it.

This cookbook brings back many cherished memories of mom baking wonderful things to eat, but that is especially true of her coconut cream pie. But my sister is the pie queen now and I stick mostly to cookies. And since Christmas is fast approaching, I would use the McCormick vanilla to make candy cane cookies out of mom’s cookbook. We made them every Christmas, mainly to decorate the tree. They looked so festive against the dark green background of the tree — for about two days, and then the tree would start looking more and more sparse. I guess with four kids, we just couldn’t help ourselves!

I now have over 150 cookbooks of my own, but I still go back to Mom’s 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book for several of the tried and true recipes.

Thanks, Mavis. A big bottle of McCormick vanilla is an awesome giveaway. That is the best vanilla on earth and it’s all I have ever used.

I am one of Sherry’s sisters and I echo everything she said about our mom and us using the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook. I have a 16 ounce bottle of McCormick’s Pure Vanilla Extract that I purchased a few months ago when the price was not as high as it is now, so I hope Sherry wins this grand prize.

Of course there will be many cookies baked with this vanilla! But also, multiple batches of homemade cream puffs. And a few of my mom’s Italian Cheesecake recipe. And just in case the kitchen doesn’t smell good enough with all that baking, I may take one tiny drop and rub it on the lightbulb in my living room. When the light’s turned on, the heat from the bulb will make the entire living room keep the baked goods scent indefinitely! (And don’t think I wouldn’t dab a bit on my wrists so I can carry the scent with me wherever I go! It’s about as expensive as French perfume, right?!)

I would love to get this vanilla, to help me make Saint Nicholas day cookies. On the night of December 5, Saint Nicholas day eve, Saint Nicholas comes and put cookies in your shoes that have been left outside your door. Of course, Saint Nicholas uses Ziploc bags so the cookies can be eaten for breakfast on Saint Nicholas day! This requires baking all of your holiday cookies early, and I would totally use the vanilla for this!

Love vanilla!! Being on a budget, I’ve been using the fake stuff and it isn’t quite the same.
I love adding a little vanilla to the coffee grounds, it adds flavor and makes the house smell like I’ve been baking!

Both of my daughters have birthdays in December, so I would use the vanilla to make birthday cakes, of course. Cookies need to be made for my best friend’s annual cookie exchange. And the hundreds of cinnamon roles I make to give away to just about everybody I know!

After 8 long years I finally became a mom this year and decided to stay at home and raise my little man. This bottle of vanilla would go a long way on making all kinds of yummy bresents for everyone on my Christmas list. I’d also love to bring it to my grandmother’s to add to our cookies we make every year.

I my to make my husband homemade panettone bread for Christmas! And bake some holiday cookies with my oldest daughter. She just started getting interested in baking so I want to keep the interest going!

I would use it in my baking……I seem to do alot of that! I love to do it, and my family loves to eat the finished product!! AND my birthday is the 7th, so wouldn’t that be fun to receive a bottle of vanilla from Mavis on THE day!! 🙂

I would use it to bake more goodies…..I love to bake, and my family loves to eat the finished products!!:). AND, my birthday is the 7th, so wouldn’t it be fun to win a bottle from Mavis in THE day!!?! 🙂

Everyone on my list is getting homemade cookies and pillowcases that I made. Had enormous medical bills this year so all will have to adjust to cut backs. My family has no little kids so this is how it’s going to be. Started baking already. I paid $10 for a tiny bottle of McCormicks Vanilla. Good Grief!

I usually bake cookies for my 96 yr. old friend, she likes chocolate chip cookies with the large semi sweet drops and the old fashioned raisin filled cookies. and she also likes date oatmeal muffins. I will use the vanilla for all of these. thank you mavis for the great recipes. today I made the cranberry apple jam for some gifts too. bonnie

Well there’s always something baking at Nana Bean’s house! I seem to be the designated family baker. I would probably start with working on some of that pumpkin I stashed in the freezer from the halloween pumpkins and then get kickin’ on the Christmas cookies. I’m working double time on baked goods this year because I have just discovered that I am wheat sensitive. So I’m baking the gluten free stuff for me AND the wheat based stuff for everybody else. But I love it!

Oh sweet vanilla, without you life would be a shame,
The best foods on earth wouldn’t be the same.
Readers of Mavis I know can relate,
Cakes, muffins, brownies, we are driven to bake.
Vanilla, vanilla, you can’t be beat.
The magical ingredient in all things sweet.
I will use it in baked goods,
I will splash it in my tea,
Everything tastes better
When you get it for free!

You’re right about vanilla being so expensive!! I’m down to my last few teaspoons before I have to buy more. I bake “roll out” cookies for many holidays during the year starting with Valentine’s Day hearts and ending with Christmas cookies that I roll out, cut out with cookie cutters and then frost and decorate for each holiday. Then I package them up and send them to my Granddaughter. She always looks forward to “Mimi cookies”! If I don’t win, can you share where you got such a good deal on vanilla???

I will use it for the standard cookie fare I do each holiday season, Snowballs, Peanut Butter pressed into holiday shapes, fudge, all different flavors, Caramel corn, plus I saw a new recipe for Egg Nog pound cake. I can’t wait to try that!

Oh My! So many things pop to mind, but I think the winner is I always add Vanilla to my homemade waffles and pancakes. A little bit of high quality vanilla makes all the difference! Also amazing to add to ice creams and snow creams from scratch.

A little vanilla mixed with water in a spray bottle makes an excellent “Monster Repellent”!
When my son was small, he was afraid of the corners in the room and the closet at night so we would get out the ” Monster Repellent” and give the area a few light sprays. It lingered in the air long enough for him to safely drift off to sleep with the idea that no monsters would get him.

My niece has 2 young ones that we use this trick for now- who knew it would be something to pass down?

—I would also use some tasty vanilla to make cookies– my annual cookie exchange is right around the corner!

I would use the vanilla to make cookies, but my kids and my husband would use it to flavor our weekend pancakes; I’ve had to cut them off lately since they use so much and it is SO expensive! Thanks, Mavis!

I would use this at my holiday baking party. Instead of a traditional cookie exchange party, I invite my friends over for a treat making party. Everyone has such a great time visiting, catching up, cooking together, goes home with an assortment of yummy treats.

Every year during the holiday season, I have a friend over and we bake all day. We actually call it “baking day.” The day starts at 7AM. We bake cookies, mini loaves of cranberry pound cake and banana nut bread, peanut butter balls, Chex mix. For the majority of our goodies, vanilla is a consistent ingredient. All of our goodies are gifts for family, co-workers, friends and people who have been good to us throughout the year. The day is capped off by a nice dinner out!

I would use it for all my Christmas cookie baking of course! I am down to the last inch of extract in my bottle at home trying to wait out these prices! I did grab one bottle when you mentioned this deal last week but would love more to hold me over hopefully until prices get better!

Got a error when clicking from my newsletter /pod….so not even sure how
I got here to do the comment……vanilla….oh,yes….use it in cooking /baking
cakes,cookies,candy and would sure share with daughter….,,as she does a
lot more cooking than I do….Thanks for a chance to win!

Thursday Dec 6th is my 50th birthday~ vanilla would be a very nice birthday present! I use vanilla in my custard rice pudding. The aroma that wafts up when you add that vanilla to the warm custard is heaven sent!

All sorts of baking, since I’ve become the only “baker” in my 3 generation family. Cookies are the top priority at Christmas time, I usually bake 12-15 kinds, sometimes doubling bathes. Everybody gets their favorite plus I like to try a few new recipes. Love your blog, and love that you are now in the New England area, I’m a Rhode Islander, born and bred.

I would use some to make a simmering, smelly pot of goodness on my stove. I would use some to make cookies for our neighbors who have become close friends of ours. And would make cookies with my homeschooled kiddos to deliver to the post office and fire station. Lastly, I would make my husband a BIG batch of chocolate chip cookies because we have been doing low carb for a year and he hasn’t had a REAL sugar filled chocolate chip cookie in at least a year! Haha!

I think it is bizarre that the bottle says, “No corn syrup. Gluten Free” When did pure vanilla extract have gluten and corn syrup?

Anyways, I would use it to bake cookies and waffles.

Thanks you for the Aldi German sweets giveaway last month, we have enjoyed it and it didn’t last more than a week in my house. I’m partly to blame, but once I put the “Cookies for Santa” plate out, I realized it needed some yummy edible decorations. I did hang the chocolate ornaments on a small tree and made it a tree of chocolate. It taunts my kids every time they walk by, with the large chocolate Santa as the tree topper watching them. So far, none of the chocolates have disappeared. Thanks again!

I put vanilla in every dessert I make, even if the recipe doesn’t call for it. A favorite of mine is an old fashioned warm banana cake with a simple glaze made of sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and a lot of good vanilla.

I would give the vanilla to my daughter, she complains about the high price of vanilla everytime she has to buy it. She is baking on the side to supplement her teaching job, and is building several repeat customers. Maybe one day, if she owns a bakery, you could visit and write about her! Thanks for the give away.

I would use it for all of the Christmas baking I want to do in the next 2 weeks instead of making my own vanilla extract (Grey Goose Vodka & Madagascar vanilla beans *both of which are CRAZY expensive!!!*).

I make a wonderful pumpkin spice bread that is more bread than custard. My HH makes his grandmother’s spritz real butter cookies, as well as a killer snickerdoodle cookie of his own recipe! It would be wonderful to win a bottle of real vanilla!